And, methinks the Earth Observatory knows of what they speak. On the aforementioned site, it’s explained how the satellite measures the wind speed over the water, which is astonishing: The strength and scope of these winds were observed by NASA’s QuikScat satellite at about 7 a.m. local time October 22. The wind speeds are shownContinue reading “Santa Ana Wind Speeds — According to NASA”
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
Heat, by Shirley Hazzard
In which I cannot stop myself from outright stealing a post from The Elegant Variation. Forgive me, Mark. The greater thing was heat. In North Africa, the sun had been neutral, an impartial horror of war. Now, with cessation of hostilities, heat came out in its true colours as the enemy. The privileged of theContinue reading “Heat, by Shirley Hazzard”
America Has Not Enough Cuisine — And Too Much Food Science
So says Michael Pollan, in a fascinating interview with farmer and Gristian food journalist Tom Philpott. That’s the starting point, with much more insight to follow, including: I spent a lot of time looking at the science of nutrition, and learned pretty quickly there’s less there than meets the eye, and that the scientists reallyContinue reading “America Has Not Enough Cuisine — And Too Much Food Science”
Fox Pundit Blames Wildfires on Federal Government
60 Minutes ran a spectacularly well-timed feature this past Sunday on wildfires in the Western states, entitled "Expert: Warming Climate Fuels Mega-Fires." Predictably, climate change denier Steven Milloy, who runs a website and serves as a pundit for Fox News, was quick to criticize the news report. His press agent at Advocacy Ink issued aContinue reading “Fox Pundit Blames Wildfires on Federal Government”
I Only Wish There Was Some Way to Avoid This Terrible Tragedy…
In which the Onion proves as adept as imitating CNN as it already is at imitating the New York Times. http://www.theonion.com/content/themes/common/assets/videoplayer/flvplayer.swf Preemptive Memorial Honors Future Victims Of Imminent Dam Disaster
Risk of Wildfires Recedes in VC
Good news for residents of Ventura County: although the Ranch Fire is listed as being only 10% under control, it’s not nearly the threat it was two days ago. From Inciweb: Last night fire crews and structural protection engine crews reported that the night operations went extremely well with no surprises. In the early evening,Continue reading “Risk of Wildfires Recedes in VC”
SoCal: Still Looks Like a Movie, Even on Fire
The movies have nothing on SoCal. Still. Here’s a shot, courtesy of the LATimes, from an "Irvine Resident" who appears to have taken it while he was out "parking" with a babe. (Am I being unfair?)
A Little News about Upper Ojai
We live out in the country, where folks still ride horses and manage oil wells, and my kids attended the cutest little grammar school, called Summit, which was founded in l911. All these years later it’s still cute and still short on funds. Here’s a post I wrote for an Ojai site about a communityContinue reading “A Little News about Upper Ojai”
Fiery Sunset
It’s warm tonight, and the wind is gusting strongly — it’s making us nervous. Earlier today the wind was blowing more to the south, but it’s shifted — fire could be coming our way. Here’s what a sunset looks like through thick smoke. Kinda pretty. Just don’t breath too much…
An Unknown Masterpiece
News came Friday of a big studio deal for an official Kurt Cobain biopic. Because it will be executive produced by widow Courtney Love’s lawyer, Howard Weitzman, many will doubt its worth, or its ability to be truthful about Love. (Some Kurt fans still blame her for his death, explicitly or implicitly: see Kurt andContinue reading “An Unknown Masterpiece”
Kit Stolz 